"I am the true vine,and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch of mine that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. . . If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned." (John 15:1-2,6; ESV)
I am currently working through a book by Greg Ogden titled Discipleship Essentials. This is a type of workbook that asks seemingly simple questions about discipleship in specific passages of the Bible. I say seemingly simple because the questions asked are actually very difficult to answer.
The passage I read this morning is John 15:1-11 where Christ describes himself as the vine and his disciples are the branches. One of the questions asked by the book this morning is "Jesus issues a warning that those branches that do not remain are cut off, thrown into the fire and burned (vs. 2, 6). What does Jesus mean by this? Is Jesus talking about those individuals who deny Christ completely and are thrown into Hell?
The word used for fire in the Greek is πυρ. This word is simply a noun for fire. As far as I can tell there is no specific reference to Hell in this passage. But if Jesus isn't talking about Hell then what is he talking about? Help me out here. How can someone be pruned and burned in a fire without it referencing Hell?
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Yeah, I don't see any other alternative other than viewing this as Hell. What else can you do with it? Of course, I don't think we have to say that these people "deny Christ completely". Jesus' beef with them is that they aren't bearing fruit. And so I conclude that someone who claims to be a Christian, but doesn't bear fruit, really isn't a Christian and is headed for Hell.
ReplyDeleteHope things are going well for you! Andy